The Royal Navy Regulating Branch is the military police branch of the British Royal Navy. Its members are known as Regulators and enforce law, order and discipline both aboard ship and in shore establishments. Unlike the Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police, the Regulating Branch only recruits from personnel who are already in the Navy. Its members hold a minimum rate of Leading Rating (Leading Regulator) and can be promoted to Regulating Petty Officer, Master-at-Arms (Chief Petty Officer) and Warrant Master-at-Arms (Warrant Officer). The Regulating Branch has its own Special Investigation Branch (SIB) for investigating crime. The non-substantive (trade) badge for Regulators is a crown (worn in a wreath by Masters-at-Arms). Military police (MPs) are the police of a military organization, generally concerning themselves with law enforcement and security. ... The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent... Royal Navy Ensign The Royal Navy is the navy of the United Kingdom. ... The Royal Military Police (RMP) is the military police arm of the British Army. ... The Royal Air Force Police (RAFP), also called the Provost Branch, is the military police branch of the British Royal Air Force. ... In the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy, a petty officer is similar to noncommissioned officer. ... A Master-at-Arms (MAA) is a rating responsible for discipline aboard a naval ship. ... Good conduct variation Chief Petty Officer insignia Chief Petty Officer is the seventh enlisted rank in the U.S. Navy, just above Petty Officer First Class and below Senior Chief Petty Officer, and is a non-commissioned officer. ... A warrant officer (WO) or a chief warrant officer (CWO) is a member of a military organization, with a rank subordinate to other commissioned officers and senior to noncommissioned officers. ... The Special Investigation Branch (SIB) is the name given to the detective branches of all four British military police arms: the Royal Navy Regulating Branch, Royal Marines Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. ... Crown names several entities associated with monarchy: A crown (headgear), the headgear worn by a monarch. ...

Among the rest of the Navy, Regulators are held in a certain amount of suspicion for leaving their initial trade (as all Regulators entered the Navy and served for a time as something else; similar aspersions are cast on Physical Training Instructors, also known as "Club-Swingers", for the same reason). They are also known for a their almost universal virulent insistence on being addressed by their branch-specific titles ("Leading Reg", "RPO" or "Master" depending on rank). Like most military police forces, it is the Regulators who punish other military personnel for rule infractions (including such things as returning to the ship overly drunk) and administer compulsory drug testing. As one would imagine, this does little to endear them to the rest of the Navy, despite the essential nature of these jobs.

Aside from their law enforcement role, Regulators aboard warships serve a more utilitarian function, normally as part of the ship's hangar crew.